Business Listening

Do you know how important being  good at your job of business listening is to your business and life? What I learned in business about listening and communicating, changed my business and all of my relationships.

“To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well.” An ancient Chinese bit of wisdom.

How would your clients rate your business listening skills? When you are a good listener, you are actually showing respect, which helps create trust and a connection. I had a National Sales leader once tell our group, “Pretend everyone has a sign on their back, ‘Make Me Feel Important’, and then go about doing just that.”

  • Your brand is always about client relationship and care. Take every opportunity to learn the skill of business listening and follow up with recent contacts and previous clients after you know what communications to send.
  • And, you’ll know better what to send because of your business listening skills.

You know that clients are the fuel that run your business, so staying focused on your clients lays a foundation of dependability – they start to understand that they are important to you!

When I was the Director of the 3 Christian Conference Centers in Southern California, I had to work with my staff, clients, Focus Group, Board, volunteers, and Churches. I quickly learned that part of making sure of clairty in a conversation was, listening and asking involved and clear questions. I could not make assumptions, but would repeat back in a shorter version, what was said to show that I understood what was being said and they were clear about what they wanted.

  • I often had my staff repeat back what I said, making no assumptions when they said they understood.

This helped for a much smoother run operation, less confusion and happier people all the way around. This was a conscious effort on my part, I needed more cooperation from everyone. If we comprehend the results of the words being said, then we are able to move forward more quickly.

Happier clients are a result of good business listening and follow-up, which helps you earn your rights as a trusted friend and improve your business income. It helps people feel really good and want more of you, because they know that you will always make sure your clients, prospective clients, and all of your relationships, feel they are important and that you give more than you get.

I think this helps you see that when we use good business listening and communication skills, we have more opportunities to grow in business relationships – heck, in all of our relationships! Here are some key pieces of advice in helping your clients feel important and reveal that you have good business listening skills as part of your conversations with them.

  • Contact your clients regularly – either by phone, direct mail or email.
  • Jot down in a client database – the date of contact and,
  • What you visited about – this is key!
  • When you visit with them the next time, don’t you think they’ll notice if you remembered their last conversation with you – maybe they had a son just get out of the hospital, you’ll want to be sure to ask how he is doing. Is that what a friend would do? Isn’t that what you want to be? A business friend, that is being authentic with your care of your clients?
Donna Ward
Follow me

One thought on “

Business Listening

Comments are closed.